I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI Opens May 21 at Asolo Repertory Theatre

Antoinette LaVecchia in I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. Photo by Lanny Nagler.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2014

I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI Opens May 21 at Asolo Rep

“Melucci’s witty tales of New York romances intertwined with delicious recipes makes for a delightfully irresistible memoir. It’s a foodie’s dream version of Sex and the City.” — Mario Batali, Chef/Author

“Cook along with Melucci as she swims through the dating pool with pluck and unflagging humor.” — The New York Times

(SARASOTA, April 30, 2014) — Asolo Repertory Theatre’s sizzling summer production of I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI opens Wednesday, May 21 at 8pm and will run through Sunday, June 15 in Asolo Rep’s Cook Theatre. Starring Antoinette LaVecchia, who originated the role of Giulia at TheaterWorks in Connecticut in 2012, previews for the 2012 Broadwayworld.com winner for Best Original/New Work will be Sunday, May 18 at 8pm and Tuesday, May 20 at 7:30pm. The play will be directed by Rob Ruggiero (Asolo Rep’s Show Boat). Asolo Rep’s production transfers from a highly successful April 2014 run at George Street Playhouse in New Jersey where it received both critical and public acclaim.

This saucy one-woman comedy is based on Brooklyn writer Giulia Melucci’s best-selling memoir of the same name, which was described by Entertainment Weekly as “wry, personable, and at times even snortingly funny.” The memoir was adapted for the stage by up-and-coming playwright Jacques Lamarre, who currently serves as the Director of Communications & Programs for The Mark Twain House & Museum.

The play’s irresistible recipe features a heaping dose of comedy, a dash of failed romance, and a whole lot of fun. I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI gives brand-new meaning to “dinner theater,” as Giulia cooks an authentic three-course Italian meal on stage for audience members with upgraded tickets. During each performance, 10 patrons with upgraded tickets will savor antipasto, salad, fresh pasta and wine prepared and served on stage by Giulia. Four additional upgraded ticket-holders will enjoy wine and cheese on stage. In between making pasta from scratch and serving wine to her on-stage guests, Giulia also dishes on the defining men in her life and the food she prepared for them to win their hearts – and their stomachs.

“Audiences love I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI, and I am very excited that this unique show will be presented here at Asolo Rep after a very successful run at the George Street Playhouse” said Director Rob Ruggiero. “The charm and humor of Antoinette LaVecchia combined with the amazing skill we witness as she prepares a meal in front of us makes for a mouthwatering theatrical treat. Playwright Jacques Lamarre and I are thrilled to be coming to Sarasota!”

“The real allure of I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI is that it gives you the intimate feeling of catching up with a great friend – it is a touching, engaging theatrical experience,” said Michael Donald Edwards, Producing Artistic Director of Asolo Rep. “I was drawn to this piece because Giulia is a warm, relatable character who, like so many of us, is looking for love. In this one woman tour de force performance, Antoinette LaVecchia brings that quest for romance entertainingly and vividly alive.”

“I feel like I was destined to be in this play,” said LaVecchia, who won a Best Actress Award from Broadwayworld.com for her portrayal of Giulia. “In all the plays I’ve ever done, no play has asked me just to be myself more than this one.”

CAST

Antoinette LaVecchia*

Giulia

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Antoinette LaVecchia (Giulia) Broadway: A View From The Bridge (Cort Theater) Other NYC: Two Point Oh (Active Theater @59E59); Mamma Roma (Cherry Lane Mentor Project); A World Apart (The Flea Theater); How To Be A Good Italian Daughter (In Spite of Myself) (Cherry Lane Theatre); The Bottle House (The Public Theater); Puccini: A Composer’s Journey (Carnegie Hall); String of Pearls (Primary Stages); Magic Hands Freddy (SoHo Playhouse); Kimberly Akimbo (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Sweepers (Urban Stages); The Tempest (Lincoln Center Institute). Regional: The Electric Baby (Two River Theater Company); I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (Hartford TheaterWorks, BroadwayWorld.com Best Actress Award); You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up! (National Tour); Superior Donuts (Pittsburgh Public Theater); Heartbreak House (Two River Theater Co.); Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare on the Sound); The Little Dog Laughed (Portland Center Stage); Tough Titty (Williamstown Theatre Festival); On The Razzle (Wilma Theater). Film / TV: Killing Kennedy (NatGeo 2013); Beware The Night (Bruckheimer/Derrickson, 2015 release), Hyperglot (short), Lily of the Feast (short), The Face (short), The David Dance, Delirious, Jesus’ Son, Blue Bloods, Taxi Brooklyn, The Sopranos, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Guiding Light, One Life To Live. Education: MFA – NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Program – Acting, Moscow Art Theatre. Awards: 2012 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Best Actress Award, Fox Fellowship, Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant, Connecticut Critics Circle Award and Drama League Directing Fellowship. LaVecchia has taught at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Acting Program and The Actor’s Center. Member of the League of Professional Theatre Women and the Dramatists Guild of America. She is currently working on her second original piece, Village Stories, about the small Italian village where she was born.

Rob Ruggiero (Director) directed Ella and Show Boat at Asolo Rep. On Broadway Rob directed Looped (starring Valerie Harper in a Tony nominated performance), and High (starring Kathleen Turner). Off-Broadway he directed All Under Heaven (also starring Ms. Harper), as well as conceiving and directing the original musical revue Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn (Drama Desk/Outer Critics Circle nominations). Rob’s work has been seen at major regional theaters around the country, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Play House, Goodspeed Musicals, The Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, The Muny, Papermill Playhouse, The Pittsburgh Public Theater, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, among others. Rob is the Producing Artistic Director of TheaterWorks, Hartford where he has directed almost 50 shows.

TICKETS

I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI will be performed in Asolo Rep’s Cook Theatre.

Tickets for on-stage table seating are only available by calling or visiting the box office.

Tickets for I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI and the entire 2013-14 Asolo Repertory Theatre season are on sale now. Tickets for I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI start at $25. To purchase tickets, call 941.351.8000 or 800.361.8388, visit www.asolorep.org, or visit the Asolo Repertory Theatre Box Office, located in the lobby of the theatre. Asolo Repertory Theatre is located at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts. Box office hours are Monday 10am – 4pm, Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 8pm, and Sunday 10am – 2pm. The box office closes at 5pm when there are no evening performances and phone lines close one hour prior to the start of any performance. Season subscription packages are also available online and by visiting or calling the box office.

SPONSORS

Asolo Rep is able to bring I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI to the stage thanks to the generosity of its sponsors. Corporate sponsors are Grapevine Communications, the Holiday Inn and Treviso Mezzacorona.

Asolo Rep’s season sponsors are Florida State University, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Designing Women Boutique, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Woman’s Exchange, Inc. Asolo Rep’s artistic programs are paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues. Asolo Rep is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.